Khloé Kardashian Shares What Inspired Her First Solo Scent, XO Khloé: 'An Extension of Me' (Exclusive)

12/02/2024 12:37 PM

Kardashian's floral fragrance launched at Ulta Dec. 1

Khloé Kardashian is embracing a new era with a signature scent. 

On Dec. 1 the star introduced her debut solo fragrance XO Khloé. The fragrance is available at ulta.com now and at Ulta stores on Dec. 8, and UK shoppers can purchase it at Harrods.

Kardashian, who celebrated her 40th birthday in June, initially teased the launch with an ethereal Instagram post on Nov. 11 for which she wrote, "XO Khloé … coming soon."

With the wait over, Kardashian spoke to PEOPLE about her journey to create the personal scent. 

"I love having a signature scent," Kardashian begins. This one opens with lush notes of crystallized rose petals, "comforting" lavender and sage blossom, while at the heart are orange blossom water as well as touches of praline and peach. 

"All of these notes on their own sound really sweet, but as it dries down, moss, Tonka bean, soft woods and sexy musks makes it feel very luxe," Kardashian explains. "Then the scent, it's very decadent and sexy but also delicate and light, and you can layer it, so I just feel like it is very identifiably me."

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Kardashian has long gravitated towards fragrances. After collaborating on scents with her sisters and ex-husband, she said the time was right to make her own. 

"As much as I loved it, it was never my full creation," she says of previous perfumes. As such, creating XO Khloé has been an extra special journey, she shares.

"I said in my 39th year, in my 30s, I was shedding so much of this old version of me. Then coming into my 40s, it really felt like I was so excited. And, I'm still so excited to be in my 40s: it just feels like a new, confident, different version of myself. With that, I wanted to do something that is new for me."

Enter XO Khloé, which took Kardashian "close to a year and a half" and "100 rounds of fragrance mods," to create in partnership with Luxe Brands.

"I had so many deadlines I was supposed to make, but the scent wasn't right, so I kept extending it and extending it, because I wanted this to be perfect," she reveals. "It's an extension of me. The fact that it came after my 40th, it just feels so perfect to me. I feel like it is divine timing."

"I'm pushing my boundaries professionally and personally," Kardashian shares. "Me doing something on my own in the beauty world has always been very intimidating for me, but this was just the category I really wanted to start in."

She continues, "I love makeup and hair and all of that, but fragrance really speaks to me, and I wanted to do something that was a branch away from my siblings. Yes, they do fragrances, but they do so much in beauty and I wanted to do my own thing and launch it my own way."

Kardashian has always appreciated the power of scent, and taken pride in the aroma that lingers when she walks through a room. Yet the entrepreneur admits she's a bit anxiousto introduce her signature scent to the world. "I'm so proud and excited, but also nervous for this, because it is something that's so brand new for me."

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While she loves the fact that fragrances, in one whiff, can "transport you to a different time," with XO Khloé, Kardashian is creating a fragrance that captures how she feels now.

"I feel so secure and confident, but also — regardless of where I am aesthetically — I just think internally, I feel just glamorous and beautiful and this sexiness. But that doesn't mean my body, I just mean I feel like that's what I'm exuding right now, and I love that for me. I don't know if that sounds very narcissistic, but it's come a long way for me," she shares.

The Good American cofounder says the scent is a reflection and celebration of her self-work. 

"I think, for me, I've struggled a lot internally and I've gone through a lot, and I have had to sometimes pretend I feel a way that I really don't. I finally feel that I'm at a really good place in my life mentally, and I'm so proud of where I've gotten myself emotionally and just professionally and just as a person, so it's something that I wanted to share with the world. I think that sounds really corny, but it's just the truth," she says.

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Kardashian calls the origin of the fragrance's name, XO Khloé, "corny" as well. But the message is both relatable and aspirational. "I sign my signature as either XO or a heart [followed by] Khloe. I didn't think a heart would translate, so I did XO Khloé. It just was short and chic and sweet." 

It's because, "I just love love," Kardashian says. "I love spreading positivity. Everyone's going through something in their day, whether it be good, bad or whatever. Even if you have the best day, you still want love. If you have the worst day, then you definitely need love. I just want everyone to feel love and happiness and just some positivity."

The light Kardashian exudes now is mirrored in the bottle. 

"When I started [designing] it, I had a Pinterest board of interior design things I had been creating for years. So much of it was heirlooms and even some things of my own, and I do have jewelry of my grandmother on my dad's side, that I took inspiration from," Kardashian explained.

The result, a geometric design that "resembles glamour and elegance and sexiness, but [also that] you're shining. It's this crystal bottle with a lot of angles and cuts in it. You have all these prisms if you hold it in the light, and it's beautiful."

Kardashian isn't the only one who's overjoyed with the outcome. The mother of two (she shares daughter True, 6 and son Tatum, 2, with ex Tristian Thompson) says True is a genuine fan.

"I think what makes me so proud is, when I got the real bottle, I showed my daughter and she was so proud. Then I was like, 'Look, Mommy has a fragrance," and she was like, 'Can I have it?' and I said, 'Sure.' Now, she sprays it on herself sometimes before school. It's so cute."

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"And when she's smelling it, she's like, 'This smells just like you.' It just makes me so proud that she is so proud and that she identifies that as me. I know my mom's scent, she has the same scent since I was little, so it's so identifiably my mom. And there's a certain body lotion that I use, because it's my mom's body lotion because of that nostalgic feeling."

"I hope she gets that from this," Kardashian says, adding, "and I hope she keeps this or has it for, dare I say, decades to come."

Shop XO Khloé out now.